On Wednesday, the 15-year-old was quiet and composed, calling for calm.
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Gov. Mark Dayton, who has suggested that race played a role in Castile’s death, is attending. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison were among those in attendance at the 3,000-seat Cathedral of St. Paul to pay their final respects. Castile was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in…
Dora Jones runs a local nonprofit and had worked with both Castile and Reynolds in their search for affordable housing. After a resounding round of applause for Philando Castile, the Grammy-winning ensemble Sounds of Blackness broke into song.
The memorial was filled with songs, and stories and poems read by family members. “Philando was a loving, giving, caring individual”, said Clarence Castile. They buried him after a noon funeral Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Paul, the cathedral said on its website. The meal was branded by family and friends as the “PhilMeal”.
The service included remarks from Catholic priest the Rev. John Ubel and also the Rev. Dr. Steve Daniels Jr. from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church.
Following the service, Bishop Cozzens said was he moved by Rev. Daniels’ words during the eulogy when he “spoke like a father” and said “we’ve got to come together or we’re not going to make it”. A procession starts at 9 a.m.at Brooks Funeral Home in St. Paul.
J.J. Hill parents Dennis and Thea Sear said their 11-year-old daughter, Linda, recounted how “Mr. Phil” frequently identified kids who had come to school hungry and brought them extra food, and sat down with unruly students and encouraged them to behave.
Mourners watch as the casket of Philando Castile is placed on a horse-drawn carriage after his funeral service Thursday, July 14, 2016, at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minn. “If I’m carrying a weapon, which I’m licensed to carry in NY, the first thing I tell the police officer is, ‘Officer, I want you to know I have a legal firearm in the auto”.
Castile has become the latest face of the Black Lives Matter movement, with protests being held across the country including Minneapolis-St.
A line of women, also in white, handed tissues to onlookers. “I love you”, wrote Castile.
The city says it hopes residents understand the circumstances under which the “tough, but necessary, decision” was made.
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Castile, who would’ve turned 33 tomorrow (July 16), was fatally wounded while reaching for his wallet, according to his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, who livestreamed the bloody aftermath of the traffic stop gone wrong in Falcon Heights.
